The night was mostly peaceful, the Animals kept away thanks to the fire. If anything would have come close Doofus would have made a lot of noise, every time the cracked he would stir in his sleep. Wu Hai woke up with the sounds of birds in the distance as the suns began to rise. Brilliant Oranges and Purples filled the Sky with a charming twilight during the dawning hours. Hungry, he quickly took out some food and had it ready for when the Brothers awoke. Normally they had to hunt for food right when they woke up. Their journey across the region was going to be a lot slower if they were all forced to walk.
Wu Hai made a point to manage their time. Although he didn't want to be on land, the brothers couldn't fly. It was going to take some time before they arrived at another town, so he figured that they might as well make the most of it and people moved slower when they were hungry.
The Cheng Twins were rubbing their eyes as they exited the tent, they saw fresh water and a meal ready. With beastly glares they gobbled down the meal and searched the tent one last time. The brothers grabbed what little they wanted and the trio made their way on the path.
Doofus hated the ground but he had plenty of energy and there were a lot of herbs on the ground. He would run ahead sometimes to eat them and it only proved problematic when he ate some that caused him to fall asleep a few minutes at a time.
Wu Hai's group was passing over a hill and they could see a bit further into the distance. The hill had allowed them to see the end of the plains, Wu Hai had made it one step closer to where the Compass pointed. They were headed to the northeast, it hadn't moved for a few days until they were coming near a City.
For some reason the compass had altered course and pointed away from the City when they came into range. Sure it was some sort of mistake Zao Wu Hai, slapped the bottom of the compass and spun in a circle. Sure enough, the compass was no longer pointing Northeast and it was pointing to the Northwest. Uncertain, Wu Hai had felt an urge of caution and took it as a sign. Coincidences didn't seem to fit his understanding of things.
He had the twins wait outside the City, Wu Hai could avoid the City for a resupply but he wanted two more flying mounts. He wasn't going to walk forever so he asked around for the stables.
An Old woman saw him passing close to the main entrance to the stables. The Stables were somewhat empty and didn't look like there were many choices. Inside he found a single a brood of Tolo's.
Tolo males were very defensive and would never allow a male to ride them. Looking around, he could only find 3 females and one was very undersized. To Wu Hai, Tolos looked like winged bear-goats, their attitudes included an inferiority complex and the males made for bad partners.
Female Tolo however, were always submissive and a bit faster than the Males. They were not very good in battle, their hides were not very thick. The biggest upset about their combat ability was the annoying fact that females wouldn't ride into battle willingly. At the first sign of danger they either froze in place or ran instinctively.
A Pair of Females were easy enough to manage, even for the Cheng Twins.
While Wu Hai was making the purchase the Woman at the Stables gave him a bit of unsolicited advice, "Run while you can, This City is cursed. Flee traveler, before you're seen." She took the money and disappeared into the barn.
Not wanting any part of trouble, Wu Hai left the City. He made his way back to the Cheng Brothers who were a little on edge, they were not sure if Wu Hai would just leave them. He had been attacked by them initially, it wouldn't have been too much of a stretch to assume that Wu Hai would abandon them, however when they saw him returning with some meat, they were very happy.
Ready to slaughter the Tolo's for food, Wu Hai stopped the Twins immediately. He explained to them why he had gotten the Tolo. He had no intention of walking and even though the Brothers had never thought of flight, they were not in a position to argue about it.
Wu Hai showed them both how to mount the beasts. They didn't have to worry, the Tolos would figure out the flying part. The Twins only had to worry about falling off.
"Look, here, I'll tie a rope between you and the Tolo. If you get separated in the air at least you'll still be attached and won't fall. Now, hurry up. There was a weird Old Lady inside and she said to run.. I don't want to find out why." Wu Hai sounded like it was important that they leave.
Mounting Doofus, Wu Hai tied everyone together so the others wouldn't drift off. With a running start, they slowly rose into the air. The brothers were less than graceful and nearly fell off while they were riding. It took a bit for them to get use to it.
As the Twins competed to see who was better at riding, they soon found their bearings and no longer needed the guide ropes. Both of the brothers wanted to compete on their mounts to see who was faster but the Tolo's were medium speed mounts, they couldn't keep up for very long and the fat duck that has being fed by Wu Hai's energy.
Managing a decent formation, they kept as close as possible when they flew through the skies. Mountains came into the distance but they were a long distance away. A gleaming tower was sitting among the trees, its walls were covered with thick roots that had many strange flowers and waving vines.
As the trio approached, they could see the corpses of many different species surrounding the Tower. The Tower looked like it had been there for a long time, the bones underneath it had varying ages, some were even in a state of decay and brittle to the touch.
The soil below had turned a bleach white and blue, a collection of old bones now turned to dust. There were no windows visible anywhere on the tower and it was very wide at the base. Judging by its appearance alone, the entrance didn't look like it might be on the surface, it was likely underground.
Searching the trees nearby, the group found a small wooden door. The door was just big enough for the men to enter. The mounts were not only unwilling but too large to enter, the twins were also unwilling to lose their new flying mounts. It was important to tie the Tolo up well beforehand. A Cobalt Blue Fir was standing nearby so they used it to strap all three of the mounts to its trunk and cautiously entered the small space behind the doorway.
The Inside the tree was like a cavern. There were a few drooping spikes from the ceiling and it smelled of calcium and water. The group found a small path and followed it until they saw some stairs that spiraled in both directions. The Stairs had minor cracks all over and some were missing from their place. The missing blocks had fallen to the levels below and travel up was not going to be easy. Stepping carefully over and up into the stairwell, they finally came to what seemed like the a new floor of the tower.
It had been a long time since someone had been inside that room, cobwebs and corpses long since decayed were sitting among the items that they wore when they passed. Great piles of items were sitting in the wide space. Noticing them, Wu Hai put all of it into his storage and looked to the center of the room at a Blue Leather Box.
It didn't have a lock and was completely free of dust. 'Enchanted?' Wu Hai looked for traps.
The Box had obviously been enchanted to keep it clean. While checking for traps, Wu Hai held the four gygax in his hands. He didn't know what the fourth die's function was, but he would find out if it meant survival.
Slowly opening the chest, Wu Hai and the twins held their breath in anticipation.
The other shoe never dropped, the trap had failed when they heard a snapping rope in the background. Some mechanical noises could be heard, but nothing happened to the chest or the room. 'Oh thank the Guardians..' Wu Hai's face showed signs of relaxing, everyone heaved a huge sigh of relief and then another noise could be heard.